The present invention relates to a junction adapter for use with a conventional plural line clamping system in which the adapter has a hexagonally shaped body and is formed from hexagonal bar stock.
Plural line clamping systems are widely used in the hydraulics industry whenever it is necessary to connect plural fluid lines to a machine. The system provides a mounting device for holding the connectors that connect the fluid lines from the machine to the fluid lines heading to the source of fluid power. The plural line clamping system provides a secure mount that will not shake loose or rattle. Plural line clamping systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,397,431 and 3,414,220, both issued in the name of William R. Walker and assigned to the assignee of present invention HydroCraft, Inc., of Rochester Hills, Michigan. The disclosures of these two just-mentioned patents are hereby incorporated herein by reference, due to the pertinence thereof to the present invention. Since their introduction, plural line clamping systems such as those available from HydroCraft, Inc. and sold under the trademark "MULTI-CLAMP", have become quite popular and are widely used in the machine tool industry to route and secure hydraulic and pneumatic piping, tubing and other lines in an orderly, neat and efficient manner. The plural line clamping system in general provides a simple, sturdy mounting for the adapters and is widely used in almost any hydraulics application where it is necessary to have plural fluid lines. There are currently several tens of thousands of MULTI-CLAMP.sup.TM installations in use in the United States and other countries, and MULTI-CLAMP.sup.TM assemblies in several standard sizes have been sold for years by the assignee.
The basic arrangement of the common plural line clamping system can be seen from reviewing the above-cited patents or by reviewing the prior art FIGS. 1 and 2. As can be seen in FIG. 1, a metal plural line clamping assembly 20 in general includes a stamped U-shaped top channel 22 and an opposed stamped U-shaped bottom channel 24. Of course, the channels could also be disposed vertically, in which case there would be right and left channels. The channels are formed with semi-cylindrical collars 26, 28 that support prior art junction adapter members 30 at annular collar portions 31 formed on the adapter. It will be understood that the assembly shown in FIG. 1 is for example only and that there could be additional sets of collar pairs further along the channel members. As can be seen from the prior patents, the plural line clamping system will typically have four to ten or more sets of collars with each collar pair being adapted to support an adapter member 30. The prior art adapter members 30 were formed of a first rectangular portion or body 32 and a second cylindrical portion 34. As shown in FIG. 1, even through the bodies 32 within any one plural line clamping assembly 20 are the same over-all size, and the collar portions 31 are the same size, the remainder of cylindrical portions 34 need not be the same size. For convenience, the prior art adapters 30 are sometimes referred to herein as rectangular adapters since they have rectangular bodies 32.
The first rectangular portion 32 of each adapter 30 fits snugly into the U-shaped channels 22 and 24 and acts as a central support portion. Each side of each cylindrical portion 34 has the collar portion 31 and the threaded portion 36 formed on its outer surface. The cylindrical portion 34 is connected to the rectangular portion by brazing or gluing and thus had a joint 35 at the interface of the rectangular portion 32 and the cylindrical portion 34. Alternatively, a hole was drilled in body 32 and portion 34 for a pin 42 that would interlock the rectangular body 32 and cylindrical member 34 to prevent relative movement therebetween. Fluid passage 40 passes through the entire extend of the cylindrical portion and acts to connect as a passage way for fluid passing through lines sealingly connected to either end of member 34, and running to a machine actuator from a source of power, a control valve, or the like.
Cylindrical stacking nuts 44 having a pre-determined length extend between the channels 22 and 24 to separate the channels 22 and 24 and secure each adapter 30 within the plural line clamping assembly 20, as is explained more fully below. Bolts 46 extend through holes 48 formed in the channels 22,24 and are secured in screw thread holes within the stacking nuts 44, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, to lock the channel members together and rigidly secure the adapter members 30 within the plural line clamping assembly.
As can best be seen from FIG. 2, the body 32 of prior art adapters 30 fit snugly within the plural line clamping assembly and had abutment faces that rest on the channel members 22, 24 and another set of abutment faces that rest on the stacking nuts 44. As can also be seen from FIG. 2, the distance along the length of stacking nuts 44 from the channel member 22 to the channel member 24 is greater than the distance between the two stacking nuts 44. Due to this, the adapter member needs to have a body 32 of substantially rectangular shape with two different dimensions between the opposed pairs of abutment faces. In other words, the height and width of body 32 were distinctly different. Thus, when inserting the prior art adapter member into the plural line clamping system an operator has to align the rectangular walls in the right orientation so that the stacking nut abutment faces are aligned with the stacking nuts and the channel abutment faces are aligned with the channels.
Although the plural line clamping systems shown in the prior patents have been very successful, there are problems encountered with the prior art adapter members. In particular, the rectangular central support portion 32 had to be finely machined or cast so as to accurately fit between the bolts 26 and the channel members 22, 24, In addition, the adapter members have to be accurately positioned within the plural line clamping system in order for the rectangular central support portion to fit in the space provided for it. If the adapter member is askew within the plural line clamping system, the bolts cannot be tightened, since there would not be contact between all four sides of the rectangular central support portion 32, the bolts 26 and channel members 22, 24. During assembly, it is necessary to properly position the prior art adapters so that the channel engagement faces and the bolt engagement faces are properly presented relative to the channel members and bolts. This orientation step adds to the time required to assemble the plural line clamping system.
The main problems encountered with the prior art rectangular members had to do with manufacturing. The manufacture of the prior art adapter 30 was a multi-step, complicated process. Several different methods have been employed over the years to make the prior art adapters. In the original process, the first step was to machine a rectangular block of steel into the height, width and thickness required for the body 32 so that it would be received by the channels of a standard MULTI-CLAMP.sup.TM system. The next step was to drill a hole through the rectangular member 32 to accommodate the cylindrical member 34. Cylindrical bar stock was then machined to form the collars 31 and threads on and hole through the cylindrical member 34. The cylindrical member 34 was then placed or pressed in the hole and brazed to hold it in place in the rectangular member.
The second process used to make the prior art adapter 30 involved using a powdered metal casting for the rectangular block 32. Such a casting was formed to the appropriate dimensions with the central hole therein being pre-formed to size as part of the casting process. This technique eliminated the need for machining the rectangular body 32. Since powder metal did not braze well, a conventional epoxy capable of withstanding temperatures in excess of 200 degrees F. was applied to the joint 35 to secure the machine cylindrical member 34 to the rectangular body 32. However, the use of a powder metal body 32 also introduced other problems. On occasion,, particularly in those models of the junction adapters requiring a hole through the rectangular block which was large relative to the overall size of the powered metal body 32, the body 32 would on occasion shatter as the cylindrical member 34 was being pressfit into the body 32.
Even with the use of brazing or an adhesive, the cylindrical member 34 would on occasion come loose from the rectangular member 27 in the field. The adapter member is typically used to connect two pulsating high-pressure fluid lines and thus is subject to a great deal of vibration. If the cylindrical member 34 is even slightly loose from the rectangular member 32, there can be a great deal of resulting rattling and noise. As is widely known, factories are already quite noisy, and the additional noise resulting from the rattling adapter members is undesirable.
A third process for making the prior art adapters involved using the roll pin 42 shown in FIG. 2 in place of the brazing operation or the epoxy glue operation to lock the cylindrical member 34 in place with respect to the rectangular
The roll pin 42 obviously offers a technique for positively securing the cylindrical member 34 in place with respect to the rectangular member 32. However, the production costs associated with the use of a roll pin is quite high due to the extra machining and assembly steps it requires.
A fourth process for making the prior art adapters 30 involves a onepiece construction technique which does not suffer from the problem of assembling the rectangular body 32 and cylindrical member 34, nor does it suffer from the problem of body 32 separating from cylindrical member 34. In this fourth process, a cold forged blank is made in the general configuration of, but which has overall dimensions slightly larger than, the desired finished adapter. The body portion 32 of the blank is then machined to size, and thereafter the cylindrical portion 34 is machined to produce the collar support portions 31, the thread connector portions 36 and the bore 40. One of the problems with economically producing the prior art junction adapters from a one-piece blank is that they cannot be readily machined on the most economical type of machinery, namely automatic screw machines. Also, it is considerably more difficult and expensive to machine a forged part then it is a non-forged part made of mild steel or powdered metal. Moreover, the surface finish in the ends of adapter members made from forged blanks was of a reduced quality. On occasion, this has presented problems, especially where the connection on the end of the cylindrical portion 34 of the adapter member 30 is a male 37 degree or 45 degree flare. Thus, the use of a forged one-piece blank did not produce either the economic savings or desired quality adapter member which the assignee of the present invention had hoped for when it developed such adapter members.
Automatic screw machines are widely available that will work on cylindrical bar stock; however, a cylindrical body portion alone cannot adequately secure the adapter member against movement within the entire plural line clamping system Thus, it is necessary to also have the associated rectangular member 32. The prior art adapters cannot be made as far as the inventor is aware of from rectangular bar stock using standard automatic screw machines since they are not equipped to work with rectangular stock.
A necessary feature for any new plural line clamping adapter member is that it must be a retrofit into the existing plural line clamping assemblies. There are currently several tens of thousands of MULTI-CLAMP.TM. installations in service in the United States and other countries, and each includes several collar pairs each supporting an adapter. Also, the manufacturer of MULTI-CLAMP.TM. assemblies, its distributors and a number of their larger customers each maintain a substantial inventory of MULTI-CLAMP.TM. systems or assemblies. In addition, conventional plural line clamping assemblies come in several different standard sizes of channels, with each different size channel requiring a different size body or central support section. To change the dimensions of the conventional plural line clamping assemblies would require tooling changes for each such size channel amounting to several millions of dollars for each different size. Thus, any new adapter must either fit into the existing plural line clamping assemblies or it will not be successful in the marketplace. It is not realistic to expect the industry to replace completed design or existing multi-clamp assemblies just in order to accommodate a new improved adapter.
In light of the foregoing problems,it is a principal object of the present invention to solve the problems of the prior art by providing high a quality onepiece adapter member for use within a conventional plural line clamping system that can be machined economically in relatively few steps.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an adapter member that is relatively inexpensive to construct and has a good surface finish for improving seals and reducing leaks at the fittings. It is further an object of the present invention to form an adapter member than can be secured within the channels of a plural line clamping system in a variety of angular orientations and need not be accurately positioned within the plural line clamping system. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a one-piece adapter member that will not break apart due to vibrations and become noisy.